Tidbits

A suspected case of swine flu has closed a Chicago school. It's enough to make me not want to leave the house until this is over.

This article in the newspaper yesterday made me smile. The world might be a happier place with more Mr. T appearances. Can't someone give him a reality show?

Cousins

I mentioned after my cousin Lea passed away that I had been looking at old photo albums and would eventually like to post some pictures of us as kids. Here are just a couple. Makes me want to archive all the old pictures and put them on cds. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't easily come out of the albums.
This is a family favorite. We were all dressed in red and yellow (or off-white) but don't you love how those 70s pictures are all discolored now so the entire thing just looks red? (Clockwise: Cathy, Sue, Amy, Shawn and Lea)

This one is circa 1984 at my grandparents' house. (Left to right from back to front is: Cathy, Grandpa Miller, Shawn, Sue, Amy and Lea.)

Weekend

Joe and I saw my parents this weekend and went to my cousin, Brandon's wedding. (Brandon is my cousin on my dad's side.) It was good to see family and this morning we went to see my grandma before making our way back home. It only takes 4 1/2 to 5 hours to get to my hometown but it just seems like such a long car ride! One of the best parts of the car ride was listening to one of David Sedaris' books on cd. I love him! And I am glad to report that Joe has almost all of his stuff on audio so this will be something to look forward to with future car rides.

Adyson at the wedding reception. She liked putting the napkin over her face and being the source of our amusement.

Adyson and my mom this morning. Her dress is a recent purchase from Aunt Amy and Uncle Joe.

Finally...

I took this photo of the tree in our backyard a few days ago. Around that time I also mentioned to Joe that I wanted to plant some flowers in front of our house where just old mulch and dirt exists. He told me if I was just patient that some plants would pop up soon. I didn't believe him. But low and behold, we were leaving the house tonight and I saw green plants coming up from the ground. It's Spring!! Flowers are in bloom! I thought it would never happen. The weather is beautiful today. Beautiful!

Sisterhood

I like to write. I have kept a journal off and on for most of my life. I used to send mass emails out to my friends whenever something funny would happen to me and then I discovered blogging. Most of the time I feel like I have nothing of importance to say but I love blogging. It gives me something to do, it allows me to write and be creative (sometimes!) and keeps my friends and family updated on my latest misadventures (or is that MSadventures or MRSadventures?). Anyway, without further adieu, today I received a blog award from Jen. (I’m feeling the love, Jen!) So now, it’s my turn to pass it along.

Here are the guidelines for this award:

Put the logo on your blog or post.

Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude and/or gratitude.

Be sure to link to your nominees in your post.

Let your nominees know they have received the award by leaving them a comment on their blog.
Be sure to link this post to the person who nominated you for the award.

Here are my nominations:

1. Nichole from Esmon dot net

2. Jeni from Peace and Carrots

3. Cristin from Mumma Baby

4. Alison from Musings of an Accident Prone Chicagoan

5. Sandi from The Wayfaring Stranger

6. Rachel from Rach’s

7. Laura from Prettykitty03

8. Shayla from The Smith Bunch

9. Dorian from Dorian’s Days

10. Becky from Busy Building Cathedrals

The results are in

I got to review my spine x-rays today and they showed a lot of neck damage. The doctor said it could only be caused by a traumatic accident. It HAD to have been caused by falling down my friend, Micah's stairs when she lived at an apartment several years ago. (The carpeting on the stairs wasn't tacked down and as I was leaving I fell and landed head first after tumbling down about 20 stairs.) If the damage is not taken care of it just gets worse...this is where herniated and bulging discs come in. The neck damage could also attribute to digestive problems (ahem). So we're working to correct the problem which is going to mean adjustments, therapy and massages for 3 times a week for the next 10-12 weeks. He said my damage is such that it could actually take longer. After 24 therapy sessions, more x-rays to see where we're at.

Getting "Wii" Fit

After visiting the chiropractor, it sounds like the curvature of my spine is pretty bad. And I had some xrays taken to make sure there's nothing more severe going on but don't have those results yet. (I knew it wasn't good when I got asked more than once if I'd been in an automobile accident or had any known spinal injuries.) Likely this will mean lots of chiropractic care in the future and I was told I'm supposed to be doing a lot more yoga and pilates. So Joe and I picked up a Wii Fit. We were going to get one anyway and this was a good excuse to do it sooner than later. So far, I'm really impressed. And I was definitely breaking a sweat following the routines. The interactive part just makes it much more fun than doing a standard exercise DVD and I like how it tracks your progress, although I didn't like seeing my weight or BMI on the screen - yikes! I hope this is the motivation I need to be more diligent about getting in shape and taking better care of my back!

A Splendid Saturday

Joe and I had a great time tonight with our friends, Sean and Lori from Columbia. We went to Gino's East for pizza and then on to Millennium Park and to Buckingham Fountain. And the weather was perfect today! Finally I broke out my flipflops!

Random

Joe and I went out to a local place for pizza last night. He had been there before, I had not. We ordered a pepperoni pizza with garlic on half. He likes garlic on his pizza, I do not. This has never been a problem for us before. I eat my half, he eats his half. The waitress comes back to the table with our pizza and it all looks the same so Joe asks which side the garlic is on. She literally puts it all the way up to her nose to smell in order to determine which side (I'm telling you - her nose was in our pizza) and then she makes a judgment based on smell. And when doing so, fingers our pizza to point it out. It was the craziest experience ever. Then it turns out that there was garlic all over the pizza but they only used half as much. There was no rhyme or reason but it seemed to be on almost every other piece but not every piece. Since when does asking for half a pizza with a certain topping mean half as much? That's it. Just venting. File under random.

Normal

I went to happy hour tonight with some people from work. I mention this only because I have worked at my job for about three months and there are only about two people who ever talk to me. (One of those people invited me tonight.) It's been an adjustment from what I'm used to. I almost didn't go because I knew I wouldn't know anyone but I'm glad I went. Made me miss all the happy hours with my girlfriends and work friends from back home. But I met some cool people and realized it was a big step for "the new girl."

My life has been transformed

I took the plunge. I am now the proud new owner of a smartphone! (A Blackberry to be exact.) I have wanted one for awhile and then the boredom of train commuting made me want one even more. Then my phone started literally falling apart. Then I got a coupon in the mail for a really good deal and the rest was history. I'm not going to lie, I still don't know all the ins and outs. And before I was able to text at lightening speed but this new keyboard makes me seriously slow. Otherwise, I think I'm going to love it. Oh, yeah, I guess I could have just wrote this post from my phone, right?

Just that kind of day

I've been suffering from back pain and muscle spasms for at least a couple weeks now. I am awakened usually at least once a night from back spasms and aches and pains and sometimes it just hurts to breathe. So I make an appointment...only I can't get in for awhile. So I wait. Patiently. Today was my appointment - finally. It is quite an ordeal compared to what I'm used to because I have to catch an earlier train, leave work, etc. I rush to my appointment, get to the door and it's locked. Finally someone comes to the door and just tells me nonchalantly, "We're closed." Um, no you're not. I have an appointment. "Oh, yeah, our doctor had an emergency and had to cancel." They claimed to not have my number but since I was a new patient I just gave them my number when I called last week along with every other piece of new patient information possible. I was beyond angry. Not only did these clowns waste my time but now I have to suffer the pain a while longer and take off work again. Argh. It's seriously just been one of those days. And, of course, they didn't understand why I just couldn't come back tomorrow. So now I wait some more...

On another note, I'm thinking about freezer meals. Maybe making something extra on the weekend to stick in the freezer and pull out at a moment's notice during the week. Does anyone do this and what do you recommend?

Mom

Mom is having laser eye surgery (SLP for glaucoma) tomorrow...they do one eye tomorrow and then the other eye a week from tomorrow. I don't know much about the procedure but I do know she can drive afterwards which sounds impressive. I'm sure she's ready to stop having surgeries and procedures but I'm glad she's keeping on top of her health.